Fountain-pen.



1 A j@ A f w N Patented Apr.16,1918..

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 R. W. LOTZ.

FOUNTAIN PEN.

APPLlcATIaN FILED MAR. 11. 191s.

RUDOLPH WM. LOTZ, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FOUNTAIN-PEN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 16, 1918.

Application filed March 11, 1918. Serial No. 221,804.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH WM. Lo'rz, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fountain-Pens; and I do hereby declare the following t0 be a full, clear, and lexact description of the inn vention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in self-filling fountain pens, and has for its object to provide` a fountain pen of this character in which the collapsible ink reservoir is collapsed by means of a pressure bar actuated by a lever and fulcrumed in a slot in the barrel, and in which ythe lever is lirmly automatically locked in its closed position when moved thereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide connection between one end of the lever and the sack-collapsing barvor pressure bar whereby the latter is supported and held by the lever, when closed firmly abutting against the inner wall of the barrel, and is thus prevented from effecting ejection of ink or flooding of the pen by the imposition of its weight on the sack when the latter iseX- panded and filled, or partially filled, with ink.

provide simple, cheap and eliicient means for firmly locking the lever in its closed position against accidental opening, and preferably in such a manner as to automatically eEect unlocking of the lever substantially simultaneously with the beginning of its opening movement thereof by insertion of the linger nail underneath one end of the lever in a well-known manner.

The invention consists in the features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and particularly claimed.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention:

Figure l is a fragmentary detail central longitudinal section of a fountain pen constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail view in elevation of the same showing the slot and operating lever housed therein.

Figs. 3, 4' and 5 are respectively fragmentaryA detail sections on the lines 3 3, 4,-4andw5-V5 ofFig. 1.

A further object of the invention is to Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. l showing another embodiment of the invention. Fig. 7 is a fragmentaryview in elevation of the same. v

Figs. 8 and 9 are fragmentary detail sections on the lines 8 8 and 9-9 respectively of Fig. 6.

Referring now to said drawings, 1 indicates the barrel of a fountain penwhich is provided with a longitudinal slot 2 in which the lever 3 is pivotally mounted between its ends.

The said lever is preferably hollow and consists of a channeledV element having parallel side flanges and a middle portion or web which is disposed substantially flush with the outer peripheral vwall of the barrel 1 when the lever is in closed position. A pivot pin 5 spans the slot 2 between its ends and passes through longitudinal slots 6in the flanges 4 of the lever. The pressure or sack-collapsing bar 7 Vis provided with a wire loop '8 projecting from one face thereof between the ends of said bar and is engaged withvthe lever 3 by means of a pin 9 or equivalent device spanning the flanges y4 of said lever andA passing through said loop 8. Said loop is preferably of a length substantially yequal to the movement of the pin 9 longitudinally of the barrel when describing an arc of substantially ninety de-` grees when turned from its closed to its openjposition, the end wall 10 of said loop 8 constituting a stop for limiting the opening movement of the lever.

Spanning the flanges 4 at their inner edges between the ends of the lever 3 and from a point contiguous to the slots 6 to a point contiguous to one end of the lever is a ange 11 terminating in a lip 12 which 1s bent upwardly to extendbetween the flanges 4l. The said flange 11 and lip 12 coact with the side flanges and middle portion of the lever to form a short boX which contains the helical compression spring 13 and a slidable plunger 111 which isl held by said spring 13 normally in engagement with the pivot pin 5 of the lever and serves to hold the latter normally at one limit 0f its longitudinal movement relatively to the barrel l.

Spanning one end of the slot 2 in `th barrel 1 is a pin 15 which is adaptedto .enl I gage in a recess 16 in one end of the'lever 3, said recess having a wall 17 extending parallel with the aXis of the barrel 1 when theV lever is in closed position. V Below said,

Y constituting the upper end of the recess 16 projects into a transverse recess 19 in the outer peripheral wall of the vbarrel into which a finger nail is adapted to be inserted underneath said end of said lever for the purpose of turning the latter on its pivot. During engagement of the finger nail with the end of the lever the latter is primarily moved longitudinally until the shoulder 17 has passed the pin 15 whereupon a continued movement of the lever will cause the same to swing on its pivot and thus move the bar 7 to collapse the sack.

The distance from the end of the slot in which the pivot pin 5 normally rests to the pin 9 is such with relation to the diameter ofthe barrel as to cause the sack to be completely collapsed when the lever attains a position substantially perpendicular to the barrel. The loop 8 is preferably made of an elastic spring wire which is formed to provide extension portions 20 normally resting upon the surface of the bar opposing the slot 2, and the distance between the opposed surfaces of the middle portion of the loop 8 and the opposed face of the bar is preferably slightly less than the normal distance between said face of said bar and the pin 9 when the lever is in closed position. rPhe bar 7 will, when the leverV is in closed position as shown in 3 and 5, lie in contact along its side edges with the inner peripheral wall of the barrel, and thus its movement toward the slotted side of the barrel is limited. Hence, in effecting closure of the lever 3 the loop 8 will be slightly flexed, as shown in Fig. 1, thus tending to throw the lever normally to a partially open position. The resistance to closure of the lever thus provided serves to more iirmly engage the wall 17 with the pin 15, and to more effectually lock the lever against'accidental opening.

The main purpose of the iexing of the loop 8 as the lever is closed is, however, to hold the pressure bar 7 very firmly in contact with the inner wall of the barrel so as to prevent .vibration thereof against the sack or ink reservoir in writing which frequently causes flooding of the pen.

The invention may be alsoV embodied as l shown inFigs. .6 to 9 inclusive,v in which the lever 3 pivotally mounted on the pivot pin 21 spanning vthe slot 2 in the barrel IV1 is equipped at one end with a box-like portion 22 containing the helical compression vspring` 23 which bears at one end on the lip 241 and at its other end against a plunger 25 having a recessed and tapered end 26. The latter is adapted to spring over the pin 15 spanning the end of the'slot 2 when the lever isjclosed to engage said pin in the recess in the end thereof to latch the lever in its closed position, said plunger being limited in its outward movement by the lip or stop projection 27 at the outer end of the lower wall of the box 22. Preferably in this construction the loop S on the pressure bar 7, which is engaged with .the pin 9 spanning the flanges of the lever 3, is not distorted or flexed to any appreciable extent when the lever is in closed position p ercise of considerable force to effect opening of the lever. The plunger 25 is preferably provided with a projection or lip 28 extending underneath the top wall of the lever at the projecting end thereof, which normally lies in the transverse recess 19 at the end of the slot 2 and in such position relatively to the extreme end of the lever as to cause said projection 28 to be engaged by the fingernail and moved against the action of the spring 23 to release -the plunger 25 from engagement with the pin 15 at the same time that the lever is engaged for the purpose of turning the same to open position to cause the bar 7 to collapse the l,

ink reservoir.

Obviously the invention may be still otherwise embodied than in the constructions described and shown, without departing from the invention.

In the accompanying drawings l have omitted from illustration the pen section, feed and nib, all of which are necessary to the complete device, but are so well-known in the art as to require 'neither illustration tion for automatically rmly retaining said lever in said position, and a spring operatively disposed relatively to said means on said lever for maintaining the same in engaging relation to said latch-element.

2. A self-filling fountain pen including a barrel having a longitudinal slot, a collapsible inlcreservoir and pressure bar housed by the barrel, a lever fulcrumed between its ends in said slot and mounted to move longitudinally relatively to its fulcruln, connection between one end of said lever and said pressure bar for moving the latter to collapse the ink-reservoir as said lever is swung through an arc approximating ninety degrees from closed to open position, coacting means on said lever and said barrel for locking said lever in closed position, and a spring associated with the lever and its fulcrum for automatically engaging said coacting means with each other to lock said lever as it is moved to closed position.

3. A self-iilling fountain pen including a barrel having a longitudinal slot, a collapsible ink-reservoir and pressure bar housed -by the barrel, a lever fulcrumed between its ends in said slot and mounted to move longitudinally relatively to its fulcrum, connection between one end of said lever and said pressure bar for moving the latter to collapse the ink-reservoir as said lever is swung through an arc approximating ninety degrees from closed to open position, coacting means on said lever and said barrel for locking said lever in closed position, and a spring associated with the lever and its fulcrum for normally maintaining said lever at one limit of its longitudinal movement -relatively to its fulcrum, said coacting means including means for automatically effecting reciprocation of said lever relatively to its fulcrum as said lever is moved to closed position for automatically engaging said coacting means with each other to lock said lever in said position.

4. A self-filling fountain pen including a barrel having a longitudinal slot, a collapsible inlcreservoir and pressure bar housed by the barrel, a lever fulcrumed between its ends in said slot and mounted to move longitudinally relatively to its fulcrum, connection between one end of said lever and said pressure bar for moving the latter to collapse the ink-reservoir as said lever is swung through an arc approximating ninety degrees from closed to open position, coacting means on said lever and said barrel for locking said lever in closed position, and a spring associated with the lever and its fulcrum for normally maintaining said lever at one limit of its longitudinal movement relatively to its fulcrum, said coacting means including means for automatically eifecting reciprocation of said lever relatively to its fulcrum as said lever is moved to closed position for automatically engaging lsaid coacting means with each other to lock said lever in said position, said coacting means relatively arranged to cause the said coacting means to be released from each other as the lever is engaged at one end preparatory to opening the same.

5. A self-filling fountain pen including a barrel having a longitudinal slot, a collapsible ink-reservoir and pressure bar housed by the barrel, a lever having a longitudinal slot between its ends, a fulcrum pin spanning the slot in the barrel and passing through the slot in the lever for permitting limited longitudinal movement of said lever relatively to said barrel, connection between one end of said lever and said pressure bar for moving the latter to collapse the inkreservoir as said lever is turned to open position, a spring operatively disposed to main-y tain said lever at one limit of its longitudinall movement relatively to the barrel, and coacting formations on said lever and barrel adapted to automatically interengage to lock said lever in closed position as the latter is moved thereto, said lever being adapted to be released by moving the same longitudinally against the action of said spring.

6. A self-filling fountain pen including a barrel having a longitudinal slot, a collapsible ink-reservoir and a pressure bar within Jthe barrel, a lever pivotally mounted between its ends in said slot and engaged at one end with said pressure bar for moving the same to collapse the sack, a latch element rigid with the barrel and disposed in the lever slot, and companion means for engaging said lever with said latch-element manually movable in one direction relatively to the barrel for releasingthe lever, and a spring operatively associated with said lastnamed means for normally maintaining the same in engaging relation to said rigid latch-element.

RUDOLPH WM. LOTZ.

Copies of thisV patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

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